Remodel Project Reveal - An Update For A Remarkable Property

I have a remodel project that I worked on a couple of years ago that I’m finally sharing today. I did the design work on this remodel and the homeowner took my drawings and specs to build the project themselves. They own a business in the construction industry and had lots of contacts and experience there, plus they were located in the Texas hill country, so it wasn’t local to me.

I would have loved to do site visits on this job and see it all unfold, but it wasn’t part of the job on this particular project. Plus, since it involved the whole house and property, it was one of those long term projects that can take years, not months to complete.

The home recently went on the market and I’m excited to share the before and after photos with all you design lovers out there today. I do have permission from the owner and realtor to post these photos that came from the real estate website.

Before and After Kitchen

Let’s start with the kitchen, the heart of the home. :-)

Here was the kitchen before, a bit walled off from the living room.

Here was the living room, below, looking in through to the kitchen area. That wall was to be taken down.

You can see the kitchen had an oddly shaped island too. I can’t imagine sitting in a chair there at the cooktop “table”. I think I would have felt like I was in elementary school and was forced to sit in front of the teacher because I’d been talking too much.

A large island was used to open up the space and the wall between kitchen and living room removed. Cabinets to the ceiling made the space feel taller and the cooking area moved to the back wall for a dramatic and special focal point.

The homeowners were looking for a white kitchen look. They wanted everything to feel light and bright and loved the look of white marble. That back wall was a perfect place to highlight that marble. Touches of wood were used at the hood and shelves, to add warmth.

 

 

You can see they opted for a large pro range and a drawer microwave in lieu of a cooktop and wall ovens. This is a trend I’m seeing a lot of homeowners move to these days, especially if the kitchen is more open and wall space is needed for cabinetry and storage.

You can see lots of examples of how this can improve a kitchen layout at this link.

before and after Living Room And Dining Room

One of the odd features we really wanted to be rid of in this remodel were the chunky rustic wood columns at the dining room entry. I opted for a rustic wood beam across the top of the entry to add some touch of the same feel but in a less obtrusive way.

With all the remodeling happening in the kitchen and the desire for continuous wood floors, new wood flooring in a more neutral medium color was installed throughout.

New taller French doors across the front of the house made for a richer look both inside and out, but especially in this dining room. A new wood ceiling and lantern look light fixture updated this space and added some interest and warmth.

The stair behind the entry wall was opened up in the remodel and a new iron railing installed.

The living room fireplace and built-ins were tidied up, including the upstairs niche areas. I see this often, where builders have installed lots of open bookshelves that homeowners then struggle to fill with “stuff”. It can tend to look a little busy and cluttered too.

We opted for fewer, simple wood shelves in the lower niches and in the uppers, did away with the shelves completely in favor of a wood ledge and space for art.

That new railing really makes a difference, doesn’t it?

 

You can see, below, how the kitchen was opened up to the living room and the bookshelves above were removed. With the sconces added, it is a great place for a wall of family photos or grouping of art.

Media Room And Home Office

This tv wall was reworked to house the large tv for this room. Two entrances to the closet were consolidated to one and a cabinet and backdrop for the tv were added.

The dark finishes on the new cabinetry and backdrop behind the tv helped minimize the size of the screen.

 

Check out the home office architectural changes. This room was really kind of two rooms with an arched opening between.

The arched opening between the two spaces was removed for a more open feel and best of all, those 6’-8” tall French doors were changed out to 8’ stained wood doors. The interior French doors were changed out to 8’ as well. They make such a difference, don’t they?

Oh, and the ceiling fan too!

before and after BATHROOMs

The upstairs bathrooms were refinished minimally with paint and new countertops, etc. The guest bath downstairs, however, received a full remodel. This bath functioned as the pool bath also, since it opened to the back patio.

A white, fresh look was used here too, like in the rest of the house, and a pretty mosaic tile floor kept things interesting. That full height cabinetry actually provides more storage space than the former closet that was built there.

The primary bath also turned out really well in the remodel. It was previously full of plain tile before and some more standard type cabinetry. Not bad, but not very current nor the homeowner’s preference.

Those big, wide mirrors are something I take out of bathrooms these days, opting for more narrow tall ones with wall sconces, except in unusual circumstances. The nice thing about this bathroom was that the layout was good and the room was large so no plumbing had to be moved to correct the layout.

 

We brought the white marble look upstairs here too and used the warmth of wood in the cabinetry. Adding new lighting with sconces and a central fixture brings some detail to the space. I love the way the cabinets and free standing tub add an overall more custom feel to the space and make that bathing corner so appealing.

More updates were made throughout the rest of the property, in the mudroom, game room, bedrooms and baths throughout. But really, you should see the entire property as it is on 22 acres and the grounds are truly spectacular!

You’ll be ready to move to the Texas hill country and call these realtors who are selling this property for the homeowners now. Jeff Coffman Real Estate

You should definitely take the video tour here. Wait till you see the truck barn/mancave and the lake! All that exterior work is new and not there when I visited the property back in 2018! They did an amazing job here.

BUT WAIT……

I want to share the renderings I had done of this home, to show you how close these homeowners stayed to the design plan. It’s really quite remarkable as typically, without my involvement in the construction phase, things can often get off-track or sometimes not quite look like the design intent.

Kudos to them for staying the course, as you can see they have a contract on that property now!

 

 

Thanks to my team that I had working with me on this full house remodel.

Jitka Mayorga - Junior Designer

Shebin Poothery - Renderings

Shebin is available for renderings now, just click on the link on his name to email him directly.